A cabinet meeting chaired by President Yoweri Museveni has endorsed the compulsory acquisition of any contested land for infrastructure development purposes.

In a letter by Savino Katsigaire on behalf of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, he indicates that a number of development projects have stalled due to financial contestations between the Chief Government Valuer and the Project Affected Persons (PAPs).

According to the lands ministry official, in a bid to propel Uganda’s economy to a middle income status by 2020, the government has embarked on development of various infrastructure projects that require acquisition of land for implementation.

‘During a meeting chaired by H.E the President at Nakasero State Lodge on 21^st June 2017, it was observed that a number of development projects are delayed due to contestation of the compensation awards approved by the chief government valuer and the project affected persons have stalled projects for a long period of time,’ Mr. Katsigaire wrote.

In the letter Mr. Katsigaire drew the attention of the other relevant stakeholders, informing them that Cabinet had approved amendments to Article 26 of the Constitution of Uganda, to pave the way for the acquisitions.

The addressees include the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development Dr. Stephen Isabalija; the Executive Directors of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) and Uganda Investment Authority (UIA): Jennifer Musisi, Allen Kagina and Jolly Kamugira Kaguhangire, respectively.

Others are the Managing Directors of Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited; Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL); Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the Project Coordinator of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

‘Where the parties are unable to agree on the fair and adequate compensation payable under clause (2)(b)(I), the government shall deposit in court or with any competent authority the market value of the property as evaluated by the Chief Government Valuer and the government shall take possession of the property pending determination by the court or other competent authority of the disputed amount of the compensation,’ the Minister further writes.

The Minister added: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, the owner of the property shall not stop government from taking possession of the property where government has deposited the evaluated compensation amount referred to in clause , but shall have a right to claim the disputed amount that may be determined by court or other competent authority’.

Minister Amongi asks the addressees to provide her office with the requisite information including the names of affected projects, particulars of the PAPs, the cost implication to government and, the ‘percentages of PAPs contesting compensation awards approved’.

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Four of the nine Parliament Committee clerks who were affected a mini shuffle effected by the House Clerk Jane Kibirige were accused of drunkenness, poor working relations with committee chairpersons and absenteeism.

Although the reasons were not explicitly stated in the Loose Minute Ms Kibirige wrote on Monday June 26, communicating the changes, sources in Parliament that Eagle Online spoke to said the shuffle was done after committee chairpersons complained about the clerks: Ms Esther Nadunga, Ms Ida Kusiima, Gilbert Aineomugisha and Justus Karyaijah.

“Although shuffling of committee clerks happens all the time especially in a new Parliament session, three of our colleagues had particular complaints against them,” the source said.

Ms Nadunga, the source said, was moved from Government Assurance to Human Rights Committee over complaints about her ‘working methods’.

Ms Nadunga couldn’t comment via a phone interview saying, “may be you just have to come to Parliament and you tell me physically the basis of your information because I have never heard of such complaints personally.”.

Poor working method was the same accusation against Ms Ida Kusiima who has been moved from Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee to the Committee of Business/Rules, Privileges and Discipline.

The source said Ms Kusiima was earmarked by the committee membership as ‘very argumentative and disorganized’.

When contacted, Ms Kusiima said: “That is not correct. I cannot comment on that really. The best-placed person is the Clerk to Parliament. Please speak to her and she will explain anything you want clarified,” she said.

Mr Gilbert Ainomugisha was moved from Health to Presidential Affairs over insubordination, the source added.

“He went on a 21 day trip without the permission of his Chairperson a thing that stalled committee business. He couldn’t miss the 21 days per diem,” the source said.

When contacted, Mr Ainomugisha denied having been moved because of being AWOL.

“I would not say that was the reason I was moved. I did travel with PAC and it was not a 21 day trip and it was without permission. Plus that is not a reason sufficient enough to move a clerk from a committee. It was just about time,” he said.

Mr Justus Karyaijah, the source said, consistently let the tipple get the better part of him, the reason he was moved from Presidential Affairs to Government Assurances.

Mr Karyaijah’s known phone number was off when we tried to reach him for a comment.

Others affected in the shuffle but not for similar reasons are: Mr Leonard Okema who was moved from Equal Opportunities to Physical Infrastructure, Mr Max Komakech who was moved from Physical Infrastructure to Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. Ms Diana Amero is now in ICT to replace Mr John Sentumbwe, who has since moved to Health.

Parliament Communications and Public Affairs Director, Chris Obore, said that although changes in service are normal, it is a message to Clerks that it is no longer business as usual.

“The Speaker announced that she needs key committee s to perform and promised to crack the whip on any committee which is not performing. She also tasked the Clerk to ensure that technical staff are up to task,” he said.

He added: “These changes are to ensure that committees function well. The overall motive is that every committee has been tasked by the Speaker to show results. Without results it is no longer business as usual. We want reports tabled in the House and committee clerks are very significant in that.”

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The governor of Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive eastern province of Nord-Kivu urged the army to beef up operations against a spate of militia attacks there, saying all-out war may be imminent.

“I am alerting in particular the army chief of staff to refocus its strategy after these new incursions. There is a looming threat of a fresh war,” Julien Paluku told a press conference.

An unprecedented string of attacks in the last few days against border posts and army positions in DRC’s troubled east have been attributed to the Mai-Mai, a ‘self-defence’ militia comprising members of several ethnic groups in the region.

But Paluku said ‘these repeated attacks in Beni far exceed the capabilities of the Mai-Mai’, instead they suggest the involvement of ‘another force’ supporting the unidentified militia groups.

His warning raises bitter memories of DRC’s two wars, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, which dragged in at least six African armies and left more than three million dead and 1.6 million homeless, Africa’s worst conflict in recent history.

On Monday the Kasindi border post on the Ugandan border was attacked by a Mai-Mai militia group previously unknown to the authorities, an army spokesperson said.

And contacted over the matter Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) Spokesman Brigadier Richard Karemire could not respond, as he said he was attending a function.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the DRC forces said on Tuesday there was an attack against an army position at Kalau and on Wednesday the army again came under attack at Nyamitale by assailants believed to be Mai-Mai.

There were clashes also last weekend in Nord-Kivu, in Kaseghe, where ‘the Mai-Mai (militia)’ attacked government troops, said an army spokesperson.

During the second civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (1998-2003), a number of groups were armed by the ruling power to fight invading Ugandans and Rwandans – and several groups never disarmed.

Kaseghe is located in the Lubero territory neighbouring Beni where a series of deadly clashes have taken place over the past year.

Sixteen people were killed early this month near Beni in clashes between the army and a suspected Mai-Mai group – though its presumed spokesperson describes it as a national revolutionary movement opposed to the regime of President Joseph Kabila.

Kabila has been in power since 2001 when he succeeded his father. He was elected president in 2006 and 2011 and his second mandate expired in December.

But the 46-year-old leader has refused to step down fuelling a political crisis in the vast central African country. Elections are now supposed to be held by the end of this year.

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Professor Barnabas Nawangwe has today emerged best candidate for the post of Makerere University Vice Chancellor, leading Professors Edward Kirumira and Venansius Baryamureeba in interviews conducted by the university Senate.

According to a report released by the search committee, Prof. Nawangwe beat his rivals in all the components of interview including among others the ‘Assessment of Candidates Application Documents (76.4); ‘Public Presentation and Joint Debate’ (73.4); ‘Face-to-Face Interviews’ (79.1) and in the ‘Overall Weighted Scores’ (77%).

“The race attracted suitable candidates, who the university Senate should find suitable for the job,” the Search Committee wrote in the report.

The Makerere VC contest comes to the final bend tomorrow when the candidates appear before the University Council.

With a career track record of over 40 years, and currently the only African holder of a Doctorate in Architecture, Prof. Nawangwe is the substantive Deputy Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration (DVC/FA).

Earlier, Prof. Nawangwe had served as the Head of the College of Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture since its inception in 2009.

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