The recently appointed Executive Director of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Sam Mwandha, has started familiarization visit to conservation areas in the country.
Mwandha kicked off the visit Wednesday starring Lake Mburo Conservation Area and urged park rangers to uphold UWA core values of Commitment to conservation, teamwork, customer care, quality service, professionalism and Integrity.
Sam Mwandha replaced Dr. Andrew in February.
Uganda apparently has 10 national parks dispersed across its various regions. The number could increase or decrease in the nearby future basing on the number of game reserves and forest reserves that the country has. Mwandha is expected to visit all these.

At the moment Murchison Falls National Park is the biggest with Lake Mburo National Park being the smallest. Kidepo Valley National Park Uganda is the most isolated, falling far north-east of the wild frontier region of Uganda, Mt. Elgon National Park is the least visited and could lose it’s national park status anytime soon as claimed by UWA.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most popular of all where as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Uganda remains among the most visited. The other national parks include Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Kibale Forest National Park, Semuliki Valley National Park & Rwenzori Mountains National Park.

These national parks have long been the center of tourism in Uganda attracting thousands of visitors annually.
Each of them has diverse tourism activities to offer to tourists that range from wildlife viewing, chimpanzee tracking, gorilla trekking, golden monkey trekking, nature / community walks, canoeing and so much more. For gorilla trekkers, Bwindi harbors over half the total population of the remaining endangered mountain gorillas in the whole world. The gorillas are divided into families and distributed according to the sectors of Bwindi in their respective habitats.

As for wildlife viewing, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls National Park and Kidepo Valley National Park are goldmine though Lake Mburo National Park also offers a good sight on some occasions. Chimpanzee tracking can be carried out from Kyambura Gorge and Kalinzu forest near Queen Elizabeth National Park, in Murchison Falls National Park and in Kibale Forest National Park (Best place for Chimpanzee trekking).

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The Chairperson of the Pornography Control Committee Dr. Annette Kezaabu Kasimbazi has said that most children in Uganda are exposed to pornography by accessing their parent’s electronic gadgets like mobile phones.

Addressing journalists recently, Dr. Kezaabu Kasimbazi said her committee had enlisted media support in educating the youth and students in the fight against pornography.  She also disclosed that her committee the National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC) would work together develop a suitable packaging for the introduction anti-pornography lessons in schools.

“The Anti-pornography Act dictates that one of the many functions of this committee is to promote appropriate educational materials against pornography in the school curriculum in consultation with the government,” she noted.

Her disclosure came in the wake of heavy criticism from the public and individual critics following the committee’s announcement to include anti-pornography classes onto the school curriculum.

However, the chairperson emphasized the need for children to acquire the right education about pornography and its dangers from their parent’s and qualified persons or sources.

“We cannot close our eyes and say porn is not there in schools; these children will still learn these things in the hidden context,” she said of the fantasy love novels like ‘Mills and Boon’ that are found in most secondary schools’ libraries.

Dr. Kezaabu also clarified that the government never bought the anti-pornography machine but instead sourced various types of software that would enable the government to filter illicit content from the country’s cyberspace with the help of the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC).

She also expressed willingness to work with celebrity artistes but took swipe at some who dress indecently, saying they would be dealt with accordingly.

The committee members have of recent been on a countrywide sensitization campaign as part of its mandate to tackle pornography in the country and its recommendations will lead to the possible prosecution of errant consumers of porn beginning June 1.

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Uganda has over 250 inmates on death row, Amnesty International has indicated in its 2017 global review of the death penalty published Thursday.

The report which show that almost 1000 inmates were executed globally indicates however, that Uganda did not carry any executions or death sentences in 2017 despite the existence of the law. The AI figures exclude China which regards executions as classified information.

Uganda falls under countries that retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes like murder. Other countries in this category are Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China, Comoros, Cuba and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Others include Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, USA, Viet Nam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Uganda last carried out execution in 2003 but President Yoweri Museveni said in January he would order the hanging of prisoners on death row in a bid to curb rampant killings in the country.

Uganda’s neighbours, Kenya and Tanzania fall under countries that retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes such as murder “but can be considered abolitionist in practice in that they have not executed anyone during the last 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions”. Rwanda abolished death sentence some years back.

In Kenya, the report says, at least 21 death sentences were imposed. No executions were carried out. In December the Supreme Court declared the mandatory imposition of death sentences in murder cases to be unconstitutional. The judgment meant that judges would have discretion; they would not have to automatically sentence to death a defendant convicted of murder.

Other countries in this category include. Algeria, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ghana, Grenada, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco/Western Sahara, Myanmar, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation,109 Sierra Leone, South Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tonga, Tunisia, Zambia.

The report says Sub-Saharan Africa made great strides in the global fight to abolish the death penalty with a significant decrease in death sentences being imposed across the region, Amnesty International says in the report.

Guinea became the 20^th state in sub-Saharan Africa to abolish the death penalty for all crimes, while Kenya abolished the mandatory death penalty for murder. Burkina Faso and Chad also took steps to repeal this punishment with new or proposed laws.

“The progress in sub-Saharan Africa reinforced its position as a beacon of hope for abolition. The leadership of countries in this region gives fresh hope that the abolition of the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is within reach,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General Salil Shetty.

“With governments in the region continuing to take steps to reduce and repeal the death penalty well into 2018, the isolation of the world’s remaining executing countries could not be starker.

“Now that 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, it is high time that the rest of the world follows their lead and consigns this abhorrent punishment to the history books.”

“It is high time that the rest of the world follows their lead and consigns this abhorrent punishment to the history books,” said AI’s Shetty.

The organization recorded a drop in the number of executing countries across sub-Saharan Africa, from five in 2016 to two in 2017, with only South Sudan and Somalia known to have carried out executions. However, with reports that Botswana and Sudan resumed executions in 2018, the organization highlighted that this must not overshadow the positive steps being taken by other countries across the region.

Elsewhere in Africa, Gambia signed an international treaty committing the country not to carry out executions and moving to abolish the death penalty. The Gambian President established an official moratorium (temporary ban) on executions in February 2018.

Developments across sub-Saharan Africa in 2017 exemplified the positive trend recorded globally, with Amnesty International’s research pointing to a further decrease in the global use of the death penalty in 2017.

Amnesty International recorded at least 993 executions in 23 countries in 2017, down by 4% from 2016 (1,032 executions) and 39% from 2015 (when the organization reported 1,634 executions, the highest number since 1989).

At least 2,591 death sentences in 53 countries were recorded in 2017, a significant decrease from the record-high of 3,117 recorded in 2016. These figures do not include the thousands of death sentences and executions that Amnesty International believes were imposed and implemented in China, where figures remain classified as a state secret.

“The death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it. We know that by galvanizing the support of people worldwide, we can stand up to this cruel punishment and end the death penalty everywhere,” he adds.

The report only covers the judicial use of the death penalty and does not include figures for extrajudicial executions. Amnesty International says it only reports figures for which it can find reasonable confirmation, although the true figures for some countries are significantly higher.

“Some states intentionally conceal death penalty proceedings; others do not keep or make available data on the numbers of death sentences and executions,” it says.

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It has today April 11, 2018 entered the third day since Kirunda Mubarack, the chairman of Jinja Central Division in Jinja Municipality is nowhere to be seen. But in repeated Whatsapp messages Kirunda claimed to have decided to go into exile for fear of being arrested.
“I am aware the regime wants to arrest me on fabricated cases related to the recent Jinja East by-election which we won as Forum for Democratic Change,” Kirunda posted on various Whatsapp groups on Monday April 9, 2018 a few minutes after police in Jinja arrested Jinja Municipal council speaker Morrison Bizitu.
“I am on my way to America where I will hide until I am sure that these guys (police) are no longer looking for me,” added the outspoken Kirunda.
But it has today been established by this writer that indeed Kirunda is hiding. “He could be within town (Jinja) but hiding because he is wanted. A staff at Kirunda’s office at Jinja Central Division who never wanted to be named has told us that the chairman was last seen at office on Monday afternoon.
Of recent, Kirunda has been making very provocative statements against the police and the government.
Kiira Regional police commander, Superintendent of Police Onesmus Mwesigwa could neither confirm nor deny that the police was looking for Kirunda but stated that the police had the mandate to arrest any individuals suspected to have committed crimes.
The comical chairman – Kirunda is a close friend to Jinja Municipal Council speaker, Morrison Bizitu who was arrested on Monday and whisked to Kiira Road police station where he has since been detained on charges related to electoral offenses.
“We have arrested him because of some offenses he is suspected to have committed during the recent Jinja East by-election,” a plain clothe operative from CIID headquarters told reporters on Monday as Bizitu was being whisked away.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Bizitu, Kirunda and two other prominent opposition politicians in Jinja town played a big role in ensuring that some of the polling officials were supporters of their candidate, Paul Mwiru. Mwiru was declared winner with 6,654 votes against NRM’s Nathan Igeme Nabeeta who got 5,034 votes.
It is alleged that the ‘Mwiru supporters’ who served as polling officials illegally added ghost voters in the registration database. Ten of these were also arrested from their various workplaces or homes on Monday, briefly held at Kiira Regional Police headquarters before they were taken to CPS – Jinja where they are detained.
Section 29 of the Election Commission Act states that any person who by himself or herself or any other person procures the registration of himself or herself or any other person on a voters roll for a constituency, knowing that he or she or that other person is not entitled to be registered on that voters roll or is already registered on it or on another voters roll; or by himself or herself or any other person procures the registration of a fictitious person, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding thirty currency points or to imprisonment not exceeding one year or to both.

The ruling party – NRM rejected Mwiru’s victory on grounds of alleged malpractice. Secretary General, Justine Kasule Lumumba told a press conference a day after the elections that the party legal team was evaluating the available evidence to see whether they would challenge Mwiru’s victory in court.

By the time of filing this story there were reports that the former Walukuba-Masese LCIII chairman, Musisi Kibugudu Badman (Democratic Party) was being held at Kiira Regional Police headquarters on charges similar to those of Bizitu. Details about his arrest coming soon.

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