Ministers and senior officials from the 53 Commonwealth nations met yesterday at Lancaster House in London ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) today, and discussed how member states could work even closer together on sustainability, fairness, security and prosperity.

Among the topics were how member states could collaborate to tackle the existential threat of climate change and the adoption of the Commonwealth Blue Charter on ocean governance.

The meeting came ahead of Thursday’s CHOGM that Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni is attending and addressing the ministers, Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: “It is really exciting because every foreign minister around that table said they were wholly supportive of the Blue Charter and they intended to recommend it the heads. The Secretariat, with all our member states, has worked really hard to present it as a solution to some of the challenges we face. It’s a proud moment for all our 53 countries and it is a proud moment for the Secretariat. We’ve got our fingers crossed that when our leaders see this, they will celebrate with us.”

Ministers were also shown the new Innovation Hub, which was launched on Monday, and the toolkits aimed at sharing best practice around the Commonwealth.

Ministers’ views on all the topics which were discussed will now feed into the main CHOGM conference, the theme of which is ‘Towards a Common Future’.

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Makerere University has bowed to students demands and shelved the proposal to increase tuition for some undergraduate programmes. This followed a two-day sustained strike that had the police intervene with teargas.

The university took the decision Wednesday during a meeting that had in attendance the Vice Chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, student leaders, Kampala East Regional Police Commander Wesley Nganizi and other staff.

Under the proposed tuition fees structure for the academic year 2018/2019 that starts in August, the University Council had hiked tuition fees for postgraduate and some undergraduate programmes.

The university council, before the students’ strike, had proposed that Post-graduate diploma and master’s degree students pay a minimum of sh5m per year while doctoral students were expected to pay sh7m for any given programme.

It said, over the past years, post-graduate students at the university have been paying fees ranging between sh1.7m (for a postgraduate diploma in education) to sh5.7m per year.

The other issue of contention is that the students are against the university’s offer Shs450 per day as food allowance and want the university to continue serving them food at their halls of residence.

The suggestion to scrap off evening programmes did not also go well with students and the general public who accused the university’s administrators of trying to deny Ugandans chance to study, especially the working class.

“This is to inform you that following consultations with the chairperson of Makerere University Council, it has been agreed that the new fees for selected programmes in the College of Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Bio Security and College of Humanities and Social Sciences be suspended until consultations are made with the students guild for their input,” reads part of the letter signed by Prof. Nawangwe.

Addressing fellow students at the university, Papa Salim Were, the guild president, urged them to suspend the strike, saying that the administrators had addressed most of the issues made them to opt for what he called a ‘peaceful strike’.

“We have come up with a committee which is going to discuss with the administrators and revise all the policies which were suggested,” Were said. “All the students who were arrested were released, but we are not happy with the police. They mishandled us, yet we were peaceful,” he said.

This the first major strike since Prof. Nawangwe assumed office as VC.

While giving his inauguration speech on September 14, 2017, Prof. Nawangwe promised so many reforms. Under Academic reforms, Prof. Nawangwe said, they would restructure all courses and programmes to make them more practical and relevant to the needs of society, operationalize e-learning and distance education and aggressively move towards increasing the proportion of graduate students.

“We will gradually manage undergraduate student numbers and aggressively increase the graduate student numbers to enhance research capacity and output leading to increased innovation,” he said.

Analysts now say the fees increments goes against such reforms especially it would bring down the number of post-graduate students, he had suggested to increase.

In November 2016, President Yoweri Museveni, who is the Visitor of the university appointed the Visitation Committee led by the late Dr. Abel Rwendeire, to visit, study, make a situational analysis on causes of endemic strikes, assess progress on the implementation of previous reports, conduct an appraisal of the integrity of finance management and establish the student and staff numbers.

The Committee would then adopt an integrated approach to address the task including among others; desk reviews of relevant documentation, stakeholder interface, financial and other relevant audits, benchmarking and dialogue with the public.

Having established the issues, the committee presented a report to Museveni, saying it was  designed to enable Uganda’s higher education subsector in general and Makerere University in particular to address the developmental challenges of this country, the region and Africa.

However, the effective and efficient implementation of these recommendations, they said would require collective effort from Government, Makerere University and other stakeholders including students.

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Police has arrested a man responsible for a series of offensive Facebook posts about Itesots and Japhadola in Tororo district that fuel up tribal sentiments on a daily.
Following a report of a series of offensive online posts relating to the two rival tribes from a Facebook page alleged to be belonging to 100.2 East FM Midundo Zaidi an investigation was sanctioned by Uganda Communication Commission.

According to Kampala Metropolitan Police, after a few months, police traced the Facebook page to having been created and managed by a 31 years old Andrew Ofumbe a former employee of the same radio station.

He had created a parody account with similar features as that of the prominent radio station which was used to spread divergent views and ignite hatred between the two different tribal groups in Tororo District.
“We have arrested him and charged him of offensive communication under the Communications Act. He has since been taken to Tororo Police Station where he shall then be arraigned before courts of law.” A police statement reads.

“We hope that the arrest of this individual sends a clear message that police will not tolerate any form of activity which could incite hatred and provoke offensive comments on social media.”

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A contingent of Ugandan soldiers has been feted by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) for distinguished service, at a medal awards ceremony held in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
The soldiers, who have completed their tour of duty, are part of battle group 21 of the Uganda People’s Defence Force who were tasked with securing Mogadishu and neighbouring regions.
The AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in charge of Support and Logistics, Maj. Gen. Salvator Harushimana, while commending the outgoing troops, reiterated the commitment of the African Union towards ensuring a safer and stable Somalia. He lauded he troops for performing their duties with diligence. “During their stay, they performed their duties with dedication and a high level of professionalism. They did not only represent Uganda well but also made the African Continent proud,” Maj. Gen. Harushimana noted.
The Deputy Force Commander said the battle group participated in many operations, ranging from conducting combat operations against the Al-Shabaab to securing the Main Supply Routes, by conducting regular patrols and escorting vehicles carrying humanitarian relief aid.
Uganda’s Deputy Ambassador to Somalia, Maj. General Nathan Mugisha, who was the chief guest at the medal awards ceremony, called for more investment in social amenities critical for the survival of the populations to help supplement efforts being made by the military to stabilize the country.
Maj. Gen. Mugisha also noted that there is need to enhance governance, justice and rule of law and humanitarian support in liberated areas to enable residents lead a normal life.
He commended the Somali National Army for remaining resolute in face of multiple challenges and urged the international community to aid the force in its efforts to secure the country.
“I would like to thank our friendly forces, with whom we have been fighting here trying to bring peace to Somalia; the many contingents. But also the Somali National Army with whom we have really struggled, given the fact that they are less provided, given the fact that they have so many challenges; we thank them and we encourage them to maintain the spirit,” Maj. Gen. Mugisha stated.
The Contingent Commander of the Ugandan troops, Brig. General Paul Lokech, applauded the outgoing troops for their selfless service commitment to secure the Horn of Africa country.
Said Brig. Gen. Lokech; “You have shown the international world that Africa can make it possible. When we were coming here in 2007, we were told by the Western media that this mission would fail on arrival; but today, its 10 years and we still moving forward, carrying the flag of the African mission, and carrying the flag of Uganda.”
Brig. Lokech also paid tribute to fallen soldiers who lost their lives in the quest for peace in Somalia saying they will forever be remembered for their bravery. “To all our comrades who died in combat, they died for a purpose and we shall never, ever forget them,” he said.
In his remarks, the battle group commander, Col. Chris Ogwal, commended his troops and their counterparts from the Somali National Army for their diligence and commitment to service.
Col Ogwal appealed for more investment in quick impact projects, noting that the lack of basic health services presents the biggest challenge to improving living standards of the Somali population.
“I want to thank the Somali people, especially the people we interacted with, the civilian leadership in the areas where we were working; local leaders, the police and the military personnel. In this area, I really want to give thanks to Afgoye police and the police in Lafoole,” Col Chris Ogwal stated, adding that the officers in the two police stations had been very cooperative and were always available to help in times of need.

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