Wilson Kyambadde, trade minister Amelia Kyambadde’s husband, has been released from Luzira prison after spending six months in civil prison.

On July 10 last year Mr. Kyambadde was committed by High Court executions division to the correctional facility after he failed to pay a Shs1 billion debt to city businessman Amdan Khan.

Businessman Khan accused Kyambadde of defrauding him in 2012, telling court that the latter approached him with a forged letter from State House, claiming that President Yoweri Museveni had given him a house, and that he (Kyambadde) was vending it.

Khan offered to buy the house and gave US$300,000 to Kyambadde as down payment but the house never existed and this forced the businessman to seek redress from court, resulting in Mr. Kyambadde’s arrest and subsequent incarceration.

And contacted today, Uganda Prisons spokesperson Frank Baine confirmed the release but said he wouldn’t divulge details because he was requested by Mr. Kyambadde to treat the matter as private.

“What is special about Kyambadde? Ask the wife whether he has reached home. He asked me for privacy but for now ask his family.” Mr. Baine told EagleOnline.

Meanwhile, after Mr. Kyambadde serving the six-month civil prison, he could face criminal charges if he fails to pay up, and the judgment debtor presses on with litigation.

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US President Donald Trump has been ‘awarded’ the ‘Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom’ award by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

This follows the CPJ naming its ‘Global Press Oppressors’, described by the journalists’ lobby group as the world leaders who use rhetoric, legal action, and censorship to try to silence their critics.

The list also features leaders from China, Egypt, Myanmar, Poland, Russia, Turkey, all of who have gone out of their way to attack the press and undermine the norms that support freedom of the media at a time when a record number of journalists are being jailed for their work.

“It’s staggering to see the extent to which some world leaders are so fearful of their critics and the truth,” said CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch, from Washington, DC, adding: “At a time when the number of journalists in prison globally is at a record high the failure of President Donald Trump and other leaders to stand up for press freedom risks weakening democracy and human rights.”

The Global Press Oppressors list includes four categories as well as an award for the one of President Donald Trump, the Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom.

Most Thin-skinned

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey
Runner-Up: President Donald Trump, United States
Most Outrageous Use of Terror Laws Against the Press

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey
Runner-Up: President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt
Tightest Grip on Media*

President Xi Jinping, China

Runner-Up: President Vladimir Putin, Russia

*This category excludes countries with no independent media, such as North Korea and Eritrea.

Biggest Backslider in Press Freedom

State Counselor and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar

Runner-Up: President Andrzej Duda, Poland

Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom

President Donald Trump, United States

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The Catholic Archbishop of Kampala Diocese Dr.  Cyprian Kizito Lwanga has today said the churches are not at variance with the state. This is after he implored Ugandans to resist bad politics following the amendment of Article 102 (b) that removed both the lower and upper presidential age limit that was set at 35 and 75 years, respectively.

“Political issues affects lives of every Ugandan; every Ugandan is entitled to freedom of speech and expression conscience and belief,” said Archbishop Lwanga, in his New Year’s Day message.

“The church is not an enemy of the state,” added Archbishop Lwanga who came into  limelight after he vehemently opposed the lifting of the presidential age limit bill, which was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni in December last year, in the process expunging the 75-year cap.

Archbishop Lwanga, who was addressing mourners at the burial of the late Anglican Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo, said instead that the ‘church is the conscience of the state’.

“The remarks we make are none other than those telling the truth because the church is the conscience of the State,” the outspoken prelate told the congregation that also included President Museveni, who recently assented to the controversial bill.

Since then there has been an exchange of words between government officials and various clerics, with the latter imploring the former to restrain themselves from commenting on political issues.

President Museveni is one of those politicians, and in his New Year’s message to Ugandans, urged clerics to stay clear of politics, and accusing some of them of being arrogant.

“They talk most authoritatively on all and everything even when they have not bothered to find out the truth,” Museveni said.

Meanwhile, President Museveni has hailed Archbishop Nkoyoyo, saying he contributed to fighting poverty and uniting Ugandans despite their beliefs.

The retired Archbishop, who succumbed to pneumonia last week aged 79, has this afternoon been laid to rest at Namugongo Christian Martyrs Shrine.

Archbishop Nkoyoyo is survived by a widow, Ruth Nkoyoyo, and children.

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South Sudanese government on Monday declared former army Chief of Staff Gen. Paul Malong a rebel and accused him of being behind a series of attacks last week.
Malong, who had led President Salva Kiir’s campaign against rebels, has been under house arrest since May after Kiir sacked him following a string of military resignations by senior generals alleging abuses and ethnic bias.
Malong initially fled the capital Juba for his home state of Aweil following his dismissal, raising the possibility he might join opposition forces, before returning to Juba.
Malong loyalists started joining rebels and in November, Kiir released Malong to exile in Kenya.
South Sudan, which became the world’s newest country after splitting from Sudan in 2011, plunged into war in late 2013 after Kiir sacked his deputy, Riek Machar.
The dispute erupted into fighting that spread across the country, largely along ethnic lines between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar.
Kiir’s spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said Malong was ordering his commanders in South Sudan to attack the government. He cited an audio recording obtained by its intelligence services.
“Malong is a former chief of staff of the army but in accordance with the tape, he’s a rebel. The government and the security committee will come with an appropriate response,” he told a news conference.
Lucy Ayak, Malong’s wife, said the accusations were baseless.
”This audio is a fake audio recording,“ she told Reuters by phone from Nairobi. ”Every time government is accusing him that he wants to launch an attack, which is not true.
Last week, clashes broke out near Juba between government troops and rebels, the latest violation of a ceasefire signed in December.
The deal reached in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa between Kiir’s government and a myriad of opposition groups had aimed to end the four-year-old war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed.

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So Sure, a social enterprise that produces reusable sanitary pads has Monday launched a campaign in a bid to reward its customers with prizes worth over Shs25 million.

“We believe that every child has a right to education and lack of proper menstrual hygiene solutions should not be a barrier,” Bruce Muhame, the Head of Sales and Marketing at So Sure, said during the launch of the ‘Chakala Back-to-School campaign’ held at the headquarters of AfRIpads in Naguru.

In East Africa, a typical girl misses up to 50 days of school in a year that is approximately 20% of the academic year, and during the campaign So Sure is to reward parents with Shs10 million in school fees, back-to-school hampers, shopping vouchers and other scholastic materials.

“Therefore, we designed the Chakala Back-to-School campaign which is in line with our values of providing quality menstrual solutions to enable girls to reach their full potential,” Mr. Muhame added.

According to officials, So Sure reusable sanitary pads help reduce the annual costs, thereby lessening the pecuniary burden on parents and safe-guarding the overall health of the girl-child from harmful chemicals in disposable pads.

Reusable pads came to prominence last year when Makerere University researcher Dr. Stella Nyanzi started up a campaign to provide free sanitary pads to the less privileged school going girls, many of whom drop out of school because of menstrual periods.

This was after President Yoweri Museveni failed to provide the pads as he had promised during the 2016 presidential campaigns.

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