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NRM rebel MPs call for withdraw of resolution endorsing Museveni’s sole candidature

By
Geoffery Serugo
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MP Ssekikubo.

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) rebel MPs led by Lwemiyaga County legislator, Theodore Ssekikubo, Monica Amoding, Sam Lyomoki, John Baptist Nambeshe, Patrick Nsamba and others have disassociate themselves from the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) resolution endorsing President Yoweri Museveni as the party sole candidate in 2021.

In a statement that was released by NRM senior information manager Rogers Mulindwa CEC once again endorsed Museveni to run as the party’s sole candidate. The resolution was passed during the five days retreat of the ruling supreme organ of NRM at Chobe Safari Lodge in Nwoya district.

In statement Mulindwa said to CEC emphatically recommended to the membership of the movement and its organs that His Excellency Yoweri Museveni our leader and General of the African Resistance, continues leading the Movement and the State in 2021 and beyond- as we eliminate the bottlenecks to transformation.

addressing the press at parliament, Ssekikubo said they are planning a constitutional petition challenging the NRM CEC resolution for Museveni’s presidential sole candidature in 2021.

“All parties in Uganda are governed by the constitution, Article 71(c) requires every party to conform to the national constitution and the 25 members of the NRM CEC is a manipulation,” he said

Kumi woman MP, Monica Amoding, said there are many people in this generation who are ready to take on the mantle of presidency and demanded CEC to withdraw that resolution.

“We are ready to lead this country as this generation, nobody should tell Ugandans that Mr. Yoweri Museveni is the only one who knows the challenges this country is facing and has the solutions to the problems,” She said

She said at 35, Museveni was fighting and, “we are also here fighting through the media and other avenues because we cannot go to the bush,” she added.

Workers MP, Sam Lyomoki who recently showed interest to challenge president Museveni in the forth coming election said his predecessor the current president is doing many things but we are standing here on behalf of the silent minority not to lament but to guide the nation and their leadership.

“What CEC is doing to endorse Museveni for 2021, is an illegality. We invite our members to disregard it,” He said.

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FUFA gives SC Villa two days to produce ‘hooligans’

By
Our Reporter
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villa-fans-fighting

In bid to fight hooliganism in Ugandan football, FUFA have asked Uganda Premier League side SC Villa Jogoo to produce the fans who threw objects towards the players on the field in their game.

The incident led to the halting of the game in the 75th minute.

The unruly SC Villa fans threw the objects on the pitch because they did not agree with some of the decisions that were made by the referee while officiating which brought the game to a standstill for two minutes.

“SC Villa JOGOO given 48 hours to produce individual fans who were involved in the acts of hooliganism & violence in the UPL match against Bright Stars FC on 6/02/2019. SC Villa JOGOO fans threw objects and chairs onto the field of play forcing the match to stop in the 75th minute.” Fufa said.

The two sides settled for a one-all draw at Namboole stadium. Both goals came in the first half of the game.

Bashir Mutanda scored for the hosts while Alfred Onek was on target for the Bright Stars.

Last season, Vipers SC president Lawrence Mulindwa banned a section of Villa fans from accessing St. Mary’s Stadium after they caused damage on the stadium amounting to over ten million shillings.

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MTN appoints new General Manager

By
Isaiah Mwebaze
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Enid Edroma

MTN Uganda has appointed Ms. Enid Edroma as the new General Manager-Corporate Services, replacing Anthony Katamba who was sacked a week ago.

“This is to inform you that MTN Board of Directors have appointed Ms. Enid Edroma…as the General Manager-Corporate Services with effect from 20th February 2019,” reads the company’s internal MEMO which Eagle Online has seen.

Enid has been the General Manager-Risk and Compliance in the same company that has of recent seen its CEO Wim Vanhelleputte and three other senior staff deported out of Uganda. Six days ago MTN Uganda appointed Gordian Kyomukama as Acting CEO after the deportation of Vahellputte on allegations of compromising Uganda’s national security.

MTN Group, owners of MTN Uganda are in the country to negotiate with government over the crisis as it also prepares to renew its 10 year licence.

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Sexual offences bill to be re-tabled

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Monica Amoding , the Kumi Woman MP

The Sexual Offences Bill will be re-tabled following an impasse at the committee stage where it was supposed to be processed clause by clause.

The bill was introduced in the Ninth Parliament by Kumi District Woman Representative, Monica Amoding in 2015 and was before the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, which presented a report four years later on Wednesday, 13 February 2019.

The bill seeks to consolidate laws relating to sexual offences and provide procedural and evidential requirements during trial of sexual offences and proposes several measures to check among others, sexual harassment in schools by guardians or teachers.

During the processing of the Bill the Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, wondered why there were many amendments to the original bill and advised that it should be reconsidered.

“The amendments seem to be bigger than the bill which completely changes the character of the original bill presented for consideration. It is not easy to process because it is no longer the same bill,” Oulanyah said.

Oulanyah advised that given that the leave of Parliament for Amoding was still on course, it would be prudent to re-write the bill and include the proposed amendments for ease of processing by the House.

“If you agree with the amendments, it might make sense for you to withdraw this bill, and publish a new bill with all these amendments incorporated,” Oulanyah advised.

Amoding expressed concern over the slow progress of the bill since its inception in the Ninth Parliament and called on the House to consider the bill in its current state with the proposed amendments.

“I beg that you skip some technicalities to allow this bill be read and the provisions be saved, and then allow the Ministry of Justice to bring their amendments on the Floor,” Amoding said.

The Deputy Speaker however, added that rewriting the bill and owing to the several amendments made was to protect the interests of Ugandans whom the bill directly influences and affects.

“This law when passed, will affect all the people of this country so we cannot afford to make mistakes. The amendments made have not been seen by anybody apart from you [Amoding],” Oulanyah said.

The Chairperson of the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Jacob Oboth said the Ministry of Justice was opposed to certain amendments because they are already in the Penal Code Act.

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UN experts say ongoing widespread human rights violations in South Sudan may amount to war crimes

By
Agencies
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Displaced South Sudanese

United Nations investigators on Wednesday denounced a raft of gross human rights violations being perpetrated in South Sudan, where over the past year, incidents of rape have surged and abductions, sexual slavery and brutal killings “have become commonplace.”

“There is a confirmed pattern of how combatants attack villages, plunder homes, take women as sexual slaves and then set homes alight – often with people in them,” Yasmin Sooka, Chair of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said in Nairobi at the launch of the launch of the three-member expert-body’s third report.

“Rapes, gang rapes, sexual mutilation, abductions and sexual slavery, as well as killings, have become commonplace in South Sudan,” she continued. “There is no doubt that these crimes are persistent because impunity is so entrenched that every kind of norm is broken.”

While a lack of accountability during the country’s struggle for independence has helped to fuel the current conflict, the report stresses that sustainable peace requires tangible and credible accountability and justice.

“We do acknowledge the efforts of the Government to hold some perpetrators accountable for gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law,” Commissioner Andrew Clapham said in Geneva.

“However, we also have to note that pervasive impunity remains the norm.”

The Commission, set up in 2016 by the UN Human Rights Council, urged the Government, the region and the international community to “take urgent steps” to respect the cessation of hostilities, implement the Revitalized Agreement signed five months ago and “push to silence the guns completely.”

South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, has been mired in instability and conflict for nearly all seven years of its existence.

Earlier in 2018, President Salva Kiir and his former Vice-President and long-time political rival, Riek Machar, signed a new peace accord, and hopes have been high that the deal would finally end the crisis and deliver better and safer conditions for millions that have been left homeless and hungry.

A downward spiral

Since its December 2017 update, the Commission said the magnitude of rape and sexual violence has worsened markedly, with a surge in rapes between November and December.

According to UNICEF, 25 per cent of those targeted by sexual violence are children, including girls as young as seven. Elderly and pregnant women have also been raped, and sexual violence against men and boys remains underreported as the stigma attached to it is higher than that of raping and killing the young and the elderly.

Cases in 2018, which involved 18 alleged perpetrators of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), were registered in the UN Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Database, and peacekeepers from one of the Protection of Civilians sites were repatriated.

The Commission also noted a link between the conflict and the country’s political economy – pointing to the misappropriation of natural resources, and “a total lack of transparency and independent oversight,” that has allegedly diverted revenues to Government elites.

Victims and vulnerable communities – especially women, the internally displaced and refugees – must be included in designing and implementing mechanisms for the transitional justice agenda, which the Commission deemed “essential for building sustainable peace.”

As it continues to document violations, build dossiers on perpetrators, and collect and preserve evidence for future accountability processes, the Commission has detailed three case studies documenting war crimes, which will be handed over to the Right Commission in Geneva.

“This evidence may be used beyond South Sudanese bodies – it may be available on request to regional and state parties for future prosecutions,” said Commissioner Barney Afako.

“With sustained political will and effective leadership,” concluded Ms. Sooka, “the transitional justice framework and mechanisms can help to bring accountability, reconciliation and healing as South Sudanese deal with the past and secure their future stability and prosperity.”

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Business: Annual Africa Shared Value Summit to be held in Nairobi

By
Our Reporter
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Mark Kramer will be the keynote speake at the event in Nairobi.

This year’s Africa Shared Value Summit will be held in Nairobi, Kenya on May 23-24, 2019 at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

Among the keynote speakers this year is American co-author of the seminal Harvard Business Review article ‘Creating Shared Value’, co-founder and managing director of FSG, and a director of the US-based Shared Value Initiative, Mark Kramer. Kramer is an economist by training and a Shared Value pioneer who has authored various influential publications on collective impact, impact investing, and more, including co-authorship of several foundational Shared Value articles.

Sponsored by Safaricom, Old Mutual and the World Food Programme, the annual Africa Shared Value Summit is a meeting of minds, where business leaders, entrepreneurs from both the private and public sectors, and representatives from governments, academia and civil society discuss ways in which businesses can use their power and influence to affect real change, without sacrificing profit.

“Purpose has to become central to a business’s core strategy in order to create true change. In order to position yourself as a market leader and gain true growth, specialisation of a new kind is required, such as finding new ways of doing things that will be more ethical and less harmful to the environment, as well as reaching underserved populations while ensuring that current and future employees are able to deliver at their best,” says Tiekie Barnard, CEO and co-Founder of the Shared Value Africa Initiative (SVAI).

The Africa Shared Value Summit raises awareness and advocates for the success of the strategic implementation of the Shared Value business model – profit with purpose – in Africa. Over two days, discussions at the 2019 Summit will be focused on the importance of Shared Value ecosystems in driving Africa’s business growth. The first day will focus on Shared Value in healthcare and food security, and the second will feature speakers and panel discussions exploring Shared Value in the energy and manufacturing industries.

“Businesses do not operate in a vacuum, and as entrepreneurs and human beings, we have a moral obligation to take on the challenges facing our continent and its population. Embracing Shared Value is the key to long-term sustainability, enabling businesses to survive and thrive in a changing business climate,” says Cindy Langeveld, co-Founder & Director of the Shared Value Africa Initiative.

Other speakers will include members of the SVAI Africa Council of 8, Safaricom CEO Robert “Bob” Collymore and Managing Director for the Rockefeller Foundation Africa Regional Office, Mamadou Biteye.

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Two Ugandan officials handed CAF duties

By
Our Reporter
-
Kalema Ronnie and Ali Mwebe.

As the 2018/19 CAF Confederations Cup group stage games return, two Ugandan officials have been assigned duties in two vital fixtures in Tunisia and Egypt.

Kalema Ronnie will be the referees’ assessor in the Etiole Sportive du Sahel against Nigeria’s Rangers International FC game that will be played on Sunday at Stade Olympique de Sousse in Tunisia.

Meanwhile, Ali Mwebe will be the CAF General Coordinator in Alexandria for Zamalek football club against Angola’s Atletico Petroleos de Luanda at the Borg El Arab Stadium in Egypt.

Both games will be played on Sunday, 24 February.

The Confederations Cup group stages enter game day three. Each team plays six matches against the other three opponents and the top two qualify for the quarter-finals.

The final will be played on 19th May and 26th May on the home and away basis.

The winner team of the CAF Confederation Cup plays the CAF Super Cup against the champion of the CAF Champions League.

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EAC, Germany sign $35m agreement to support health and education

By
George Mangula
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The EAC Secretary General, Amb. Libérat Mfumukeko, and the German Ambassador to the EAC, Dr. Detlef Wächter, jointly signed the Agreement.

The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany committed a grant of over US $35 million to the East African Community (EAC) to further support the regional organisation in the areas of health, regional economic integration and education.

The EAC Secretary General, Amb. Libérat Mfumukeko, and the German Ambassador to the EAC, Dr. Detlef Wächter, jointly signed the agreement in Arusha.

Germany’s commitment includes US $14.5 million for the continuation of the joint financial cooperation programme under the “Regional Network of Reference Laboratories for Communicable Diseases” and EUR 3 million for the technical cooperation programme “Pandemic preparedness in the EAC Region”, thereby supporting the EAC’s efforts in fighting communicable diseases and strengthening the EAC’s capacities in dealing with pandemics.

US$ 10.7 million) was committed to the continuation of the technical cooperation programme “Support to the EAC Integration Process” which supports the EAC in increasing intra-regional trade through value addition in productive sectors, better market access, improved customs processes and harmonized standards. US $1.1 million was committed for the ongoing programme “Strengthening of a Regional Quality Infrastructure” that focusses on reliable quality control mechanisms and services for products in selected sectors that are traded in the EAC region and exported abroad.

US $5.5 million is dedicated for the continuation of the “EAC Scholarship Programme” which supports East African Master students and is implemented in cooperation with the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA).

Wächter said: “Germany remains a strong supporter of the EAC and the organisations’ efforts to enhance regional integration in its different facets. Strengthening economic integration, supporting the EAC in addressing key health and education challenges are at the core of our joint cooperation. Regarding our health cooperation, we believe it is vital to support the secretariat and the EAC Partner States to be better positioned when it comes to epidemics and pandemics.

The current Ebola crisis in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo highlights the necessity for regional cooperation dramatically.” On Germany’s commitment in the education sector, the Ambassador added, “From our experience in Europe, we know that regional integration is futile if we leave the youth and young generation behind.”

Beneficiaries of the scholarship programme will not only have improved job perspectives through this programme but they themselves will become ambassadors for the East African Community. We need this young generation to carry the EAC’s vision forward, added Wächter.

On his part, Libérat Mfumukeko said that the Federal Republic of Germany and the EAC have historically had strong and cordial relations since the founding of the EAC almost 20 years ago. For the last 20 years, German development cooperation has supported the EAC to the tune of US $350 million. “It is my sincere hope and trust that the EAC cooperation with Germany will grow stronger based on the already existing robust foundation of our common goals.’’

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Premier Recruitment, makes first deployment of Ugandan workers to Saudi Arabia

By
George Mangula
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Ms. Marley Ritah (left), the Premier Recruitment Ltd External Recruitment Operations Manager sees off the first contingent of 8 girls to be deployed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Middle East is Uganda’s 2nd biggest source of migrant worker remittances with an estimated 140,000 workers, according to the Uganda Association for External Recruitment Agencies. Premier.

Barely six months after it entered the private labour recruitment for the external market, Premier Recruitment Limited, a member of the Ruparelia Group, yesterday sent its first batch of 8 Ugandan ladies to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where they will work as domestic workers on a two year contract.

The ladies, left Entebbe International Airport, on January, 19 2019 at 5:40pm aboard Ethiopian Airlines and safely touched down in Jeddah at 02:50am on January 20th 2019. In Jeddah, they were received by partners and associates of Premier Recruitment, for onward placement at their respective places of work.

The workers were seen off by Mr. Kanak Shah, the Premier Recruitment Ltd, General Manager and Ms. Marley Ritah, the External Recruitment Operations Manager. Ms. Marley, advised the ladies to continue acting professionally and work hard so as to pave way for more Ugandan recruits. “This being our first batch of recruits in under 6 months since we entered the market, is significant in our history and in the life of these ladies. This is the first of many, many more to come. We are very proud of this moment and wish all the eight (8) ladies the best of luck in this new chapter of their lives,” said Ms. Marley.

Mr. Kanak Shah, reiterated the company’s commitment to provide “gainful and dignified employment opportunities” to Ugandans here and abroad. “Premier Recruitment has a commitment to helping decrease the high level of Ugandan unemployment by providing opportunities for Ugandans here in Uganda and abroad. We are committed to providing a superior level of customer service, compliance, integrity and honesty to both our clients and recruits and those already deployed to the field,” he said.

Kanak added that all company staff have been trained about the relevant labour laws, so as to be able to “deliver a professional recruitment service” but also keep everyone up-to-date and compliant with “any changes and updates within Employment Law, both here and abroad.”

Premier is licensed by Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development for Internal Recruitment and a member of the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies.

According to Mr. Rajiv Ruparelia, CEO Premier Recruitment, the Uganda labour externalisation industry is a vital source of livelihood for both the employees and their families and a major pillar of the economy that ought to be protected by all the stakeholders and bad apples weeded out. “Uganda has a competitive advantage over a number of African countries because of our good English that we need to leverage just like our neighbours in Kenya.

According to the World Bank and IMF Balance of Payments as well as Bank of Uganda data, personal remittances to Uganda have grown by 174.6 per cent from $451.6 million (Shs1.66 trillion) in 2007 to $1.24 billion (Shs4.5 trillion) in 2017, but our neighbours, Kenya raked in $1.962 billion (UShs7.2 trillion) in 2017 and $2.5 billion (Shs9.2 trillion) in 2018,” noted Rajiv, adding: “Diaspora remittances to Uganda are equivalent to 30 per cent of Uganda’s traditional export earnings- $3.4 billion (Shs12.5 trillion) in 2017 and $3.6 billion (Shs13.2 trillion) in 2018 and almost 3 times bigger than coffee export receipts- $555.4 million (Shs2 trillion) in 2017 and $436.4 million (Shs1.6 trillion) in 2018. Protecting and harnessing more value from this vital sector should be the responsibility of everyone.”

Rajiv also said, beyond direct economic gains, labour externalization had other benefits such skills transfer, mobilization of capital for investment and improving household incomes and standards of living for their dependents back home. The Bank of Uganda, Personal Transfers Survey 2017 indicated that the Middle East was the second biggest source of remittances to Uganda (28.6 per cent) after Africa (29 per cent). Europe (20.7 per cent) and North/South America (18.41 per cent) were third and fourth respectively.

According to the Uganda Association for External Recruitment Agencies, there are 140,000 skilled and semi-skilled Ugandans working in the Middle East as blue-collar professionals as well as technicians, security personnel, porters, drivers, cleaners, housekeepers, catering and hospitality personnel. Domestic workers only account for about 30 per cent. The survey also showed that remittances benefited up to 820,000 households and that $6 out of every $10 received, went to financing household expenses and education.

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Singer Gravity Omutujju shot

By
Our Reporter
-
Singer Gravity Omutujju

Local singer Gerson Wabuyu also known as Gravity Omutujju has been shot in Mityana
According to information reaching our desk, Omutujju was shot by a security guard at fueling station. Two bullets hit him and was rushed to the hospital.

Trouble started when the guard at Bukuya fuel station ordered him to leave the place where he had parked to make a call for directions to a location he was to perform

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